Black Forest

[Inscrutable]

This is the captured scent of a cold, moonless night, lost deep within the darkest wood. Haunting and desolate, this scent evokes images of fairy tale tragedy and half-remembered nightmares. Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress.

 

This is spectacular: A blend of clean, bracing and invigorating, earthy softness and totally unexpected sensuality. It smells like trees, earth and skin. On my skin, there is zero harsh anything, it's bright in the beginning, then muted and yielding in the dry down but the aromas are all standing their ground without shrieking at each other. I find it both uplifting and calming at once, exactly like a walk through a forest. I'm ordering a back up bottle right now.

[Eemia]

I adore this! It's just amazing on my skin, surprisingly sexy. It's not one I would've expected to be reaching for when I want to feel alluring and make guys fall to their knees but it works. I shied away from trying this for the longest time because of the juniper and cypress, which I thought might go too high pitched and sharply green. But my love of pine drew me in and it was just instant perfection.

 

I don't notice a typical pine needles note in here, more of the dark depth and shadowy vibe of pine itself. It winds around the sappy, grey sweetness of the ambergris and smells so silky and mysterious. There's a greenness to it but it's not easy to place. It's more like an impression of natural, diffused green shade. I like the murky quality that makes it complex and cuts some of the sweetness. After a few hours it has an understated, warm cologne aspect that continues to be gorgeous.

 

This is one I slather on my wrists and wear in a scent locket so I can just smell it wafting around me all day. I keep imps of it in my purse too, just in case.

[MadameGorgon]

oh. my. god. This is so good.

 

For several years, we had these decrepit old White Pines in our front yard that towered menacingly over our house. The sap got all over EVERYTHING. My car, 3+ years later, still has spots of sap on it. The Dogs would get it in their fur, and god forbid you tried to sit in the courtyard under the pines. You'd most certainly get pine sap on your clothes and it never washes out. I hated those trees. But I loved the way the sap smelled. So gooey and resinous. Crisp and refreshing, joyous and comforting all at once. This is ~that~ pine. A little astringent, in a very very good way.

 

Surrounding the pine is the ambergris, a luxurious cloud of sweet, golden light.

 

I cannot actually pick out juniper or cypress in particular and suspect that they add a good measure of complexity to the pine.

 

Unfortunately, that gorgeous pine and ambergris combo fades quickly and the black musk begins to dominate. To be fair, the black musk does evoke a certain inescapable, inevitable darkness. The shadowy, dangerous part of the forest where wolves lurk and curious children vanish.

 

Black Forest calls to mind the sense of both elation and fear that being alone and small in a very large, very wild place brings.

 

So glad this is GC!

Edited February 6, 2014 by ih8perfume

[Heaven_Star]

This is one of my faves, in fact it's the scent responsible for my BPAL addiction. A random eBay bay of imps and this one rocked my world. Hard.

 

In the bottle: it's dark musk with juniper to my nose, not a lot of pine.The juniper is almost a berry-scent here, but that could be me not being able to split the scents of juniper berry and straight juniper apart very well. I love both, so it's not a biggie for me, but there's something ripe in there.

 

Wet: Straight to big amounts of pine wet on the skin, there's a bit of juniper and cypress in the background but pine is dominating. It's like you're surrounded by trees straight up.

 

Drying: Cold - it's like a mist rolling in - it's almost menthol-like but I can't think what note in the blend could be doing it. "Essence of lab genius"? There's not a lot of amber yet. The black musk is lurking in the background but hasn't moved forward yet, it's like shadows or animals lurking just out of sight - this is a hugely evokative scent for me.

 

Dry: The black musk and juniper are all here now, the 'cold' note and possibly the amber dry down to be a bit powdery on me (amber does that on my skin) but I think it mellows the scent out. There's a lick of pine in there but mostly musk and juniper.

 

I really love this one and wear it a lot. It's responsible for my love of woodsy scents. I've seen a bunch of reviewers saying they like it but wouldn't wear it much, which I sort of get - it's not floral or inviting, and it sticks quite close to my skin so I really am just wearing it for me. But at the same time I really do wear this one because I enjoy it - it's my perfect dark woods scent. Lush and deep. I tried Thanatopsis recently and it had a similar sort of feel to it and I liked it, too, but I'll always keep coming back to this one.

[tyche]

This really does smell like the woods near my childhood home. There was a very overgrown empty lot with lots of pine and birch trees right next door, and it was the spot for numerous forts. The woodsy scent here brings me back to drizzly days hiding among the trees.

[Serena Reverberi]

Very balsamic herbs, too sharp and fresh. Pine. It’s very strong pine car freshener oh god no. NO.

[alianthe]

Bottle: Juniper, fir, sharp forest woods.

 

Wet: Bright, sharp astringent woods, but warming.

 

Dry: Summer conifer forest... with just a hint of sweetness. Well-rounded and fresh, but still super foresty.

 

Conclusions: Hardly any different from Jabberwocky or Nocnitsa, to my nose. Only this one has a bit more of a bottom to it, so I might actually wear it as a perfume.

[Morsigne925]

Wet/Imp: Smells like christmas. This is seriously also straight up the same scent as I get from the "Fresh Balsam" candle at Bath and Body Works - and I am not complaining. I LOVE tree smells. I want this to be a candle AND I would wear this as a perfume. Let's see where this goes.

 

Drying: Sweet, cool tree scent. Like Yggdrasil but less minty, less sweet, more pine. Love love love it. Going in the big bottle pile.

[DevilsCandyCane]

I really, really love this! Pine is a new Thing I'm getting into - I love Jersey Devil, and I had a brief fling with The Forest Reverie until that grape note started getting on my nerves, but Black Forest is really lovely, more complex than Jersey Devil. Got that same Actual Pine Trees note that smacks you in the face first, but Black Forest's pine note is somehow more Christmas tree-y, a bit warmer like an indoor tree, rather than the outdoorsy Jersey Devil. I'm guessing maybe it's the juniper (wild guess!) that does that, makes it a little more warm and rounded, and I love that so much ...it has pretty good staying power at that level, but when it does fade, it leaves behind this sexy masculine musky thing which is also wonderful. (somehow reminds me of one my exes, in wintertime, in a black rollneck jumper, being cuddled up smoking weed and playing Mario Karts ...which probably means that this fadey stage has something in common with a CK men's fragrance, but I can never remember which one it was he wore...)

 

This would be fabulous on a guy, but I love it on *me* One imp is NOT gonna be enough! Also lovely to have the smell of Christmas trees when we haven't bought one yet

Edited December 12, 2014 by DevilsCandyCane

[DiesMali]

Let me preface by mentioning that I live at the base of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where there are thick pine and aspen forests covering every hill and mountains as you work your way up into the canyon lands.

 

In the imp: Strong pine, almost industrial cleaner strength.

 

Wet on me: This is gorgeous on me, even wet. It loses some of the acridity right away, and then all I get is cool, crisp pine.

 

Dry: This is a dark, forebodingly beautiful scent. There's a certain sort of ponderosa pine that we have here, and when you put your nose to the bark, it smells like pine and vanilla. This reminds me a great deal of the scent of the ponderosa pine forest, with juniper growing in the underbrush and musty pine needles, kinnikkinnik, and soil underfoot. It smells like a pine forest, in other words. This is the truest pine scent I've ever smelled, aside from the real thing. I think the vanilla sweetness to it must be the ambergris? So pretty.

[KakashiMorph]

In the bottle: Juniper! Pine! Lovely green!

On my skin: Juniper! Pine! Lovely green! It takes about one minute until I feel a thick darkness under the lovely green pinery and I am guessing that it is the black musk doing its work. The oil is a very refreshing strong green one still, although I am expecting the green notes to drop and the ambergris and musk to remain during drydown (which is sad because I love strong green wood notes). Anyway, I enjoy my juniper pinery as much as I can before it will morph again. It takes grand total of about 5 minutes before the happy green forest is devoured in a thick, black, chocking cloud of what is I am assuming the black musk. It is impressive and I like it. It is smoky and dark and there is still some green underneath (mainly the juniper), although it is losing the fight to reach the surface.

Drydown: Black musk with a faint hint of juniper.

[Veronica]

Almost aquatic in its coolness. Lovely cool, green floral but not quite floral. Also has a slightly powdery, fresh laundry undertone that I love. This is definitely gender netural, but I would love it on a guy!

Edited April 20, 2015 by delighted

[agirlnamedfury]

In imp: strong, woodsy pine

 

Wet on skin: Even pinier, if that's possible! Quite fresh and bright though.

 

Really not a fan of this one, though... sniffing it is giving me a headache, or maybe my nose is just tired. I think this is just far too foresty for me.

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: Treeeees. The sharp pine note, juniper, and cypress stand out the most, followed by the musk note.

 

Wet: Intense pine! The spot on my arm where I applied the oil feels a bit tingly. The pine note is becoming less sharp as it sits on my skin, and the musk is starting to make its presence known. The cypress note is becoming stronger as well as the ambergris note.

 

Dry: The ambergris and black musk notes make this more cologne-like once the scent is dry, especially since the forest-y notes have calmed down significantly. The black musk note gives the scent a bit of a lemon-y aspect.

 

After a while, the black musk loses the lemon aspect, and it adds a warmth to the scent. It is the dominant note, followed by ambergris and pine. I enjoyed this phase of the scent the most.

 

Verdict: If you want a scent that smells like you've just been slapped in the face by a bunch of pine needles after unsuccessfully trying to move a pine branch out of your way (or if you just really want a pine-dominant masculine scent), this is for you. I'll be passing my imp onto a friend that likes pine scents, because I know I won't reach for this one again. Ranger still holds the crown for the most realistic forest scent that I've tried thus far (as it smells like actually walking through an evergreen forest).

Edited August 24, 2015 by dementia_divine

[Cali]

I must've sniffed too much and broke my senses, this is almost too subtle for me to smell anything remotely smelly.

There's pine, yeah, and some of the dark notes but they're very quiet, off somewhere in the background. It's nice and soft though, nothing too sharp. But nothing special to me.

[Casablanca]

Bottle: Shadowy pine in the forest depths, and a dark, seductive musk. Unfortunately something in this is hitting the spot in my throat that's red-raw from being sick with colds for 5 or 6 weeks so far this year. It triggers a massive coughing fit. But in the second before that happens, it's mesmerizing. Forest scents feel like home for me.

I'm going to push on, carefully and armored with cough drop. That may influence things.

Wet: Again, ancient pine and faint dark musk. This pine note seems more rich than others I've tried -- a very dark green, almost blackened, and heavy with sap. It pairs with this musk beautifully. Also the juniper adds a deep, cool blue scent. I only get a hint of cypress, based on my separate essential oil of it. Luckily, it doesn't assault my throat like it did when concentrated in the bottle.

Dry: The pine mellows out, leaving barely a trace, and the faintly sweet (and still sexy) musk remains, with a little calm cypress.

This is just lovely. It seems to me more of a concentrated evergreen forest essence than a realistic walk-through-the-forest smell, which would have a bit more going on, but it's no less evocative for that. Maybe it's more so.

 

It's also fabulous paired with Elf!

[joopjoop]

I love this.

 

I think that ambergris must trigger some pleasure center in my brain, because like Tavern of Hell, this scent also has the effect of making me want to loll around sniffing myself and sighing happily. No wonder the real thing is so astronomically expensive.

 

This is a soft soft evergreen scent on me - the woods at night and lots of shadows - with a ambergris base that is sort of 'fizzy'- I don't know how else to explain it - it sort of sparkles somehow. Later it becomes almost a pure fizzy scent - someone upthread recommended layering it with Elf - I think I will try it, that or Arkham - and see what happens.

 

Really really nice. Glad to have this imp in my collection and will get a bottle eventually I think.

Edited May 7, 2016 by joopjoop

[porcelaincrypt]

I'll admit I got this imp purely for the name and the description. I'm a little obsessed with forests, woods, trees, branches, twigs. It's my thing.

 

First thoughts in the imp: dirt, green, trees, xmas, a little cologne like. Today when I sniffed it again my thoughts were: masculine, pine, Christmas tree.

 

When I first put it on my skin, it's pure pine! And like the forest floor after a rain. Then I'm guessing what is the ambergris and musk start taking over, while the pine was nice, these notes are a little strong for me. Further down the line it starts turning powdery on me.

 

I like it, but not to wear probably. In a diffuser it would be nice. A great way to bring the outdoors inside. It would be good for the winter months and christmas time too but I really like the fact that I don't find it overly Christmas-y!

 

Probably won't be getting a full bottle anytime soon but I just couldn't resist an imp that transports me to a dark enchanting forest!

[Sio Bhan]

Aah, my first BPAL...... The first sniff out of the bottle elicited an "Oh, God, I've made a mistake!" response. Upon application it morphed into the notorious baby powder fiend that we all know. So I left Black Forest to brood for a few months before venturing once again into it's depths and oh yes, she was wonderful. What starts out as a soft pine (not like a cleaning product) turns into an even softer musk. It is perhaps a more masculine fragrance, but I don't mind. It is powerful and earthy, but gets sweeter on the dry down. I did not encounter the baby powder again. If you do not like this, leave it alone for two or three months to mature. Chur.

[lizardskin]

The first time I tested Black Forest I was disappointed--I couldn't smell any pine at all. I'm trying it again, and now I can smell pine in the imp and when first applied, but it is very faint. It's a deep, rich pine smell, more like dead pine needles on the forest floor than fresh ones, which definitely gives off the feeling of a dark, fairly ominous forest. When it dries down the pine vanishes and something gets powdery on me (I think the ambergris or black musk). I might try it again in the autumn, but overall this isn't really the forest scent I'm looking for.

[roseus]

This was a really sweet, warm pine to me. It must have been the black musk. It stays pretty much the same the whole way through on me, but much softer dry.

[BridgeKeeper]

I had contemplated getting a bottle of this unsniffed. In the end I chickened out and ordered a set of imps to try, including this one, just in case. I shouldn't have worried, this was definitely bottle-worthy. While I was seriously concerned about how Pine-sol-y this smelled in the imp, once I put it on, it was positively beautiful. Slightly lighter than Troll, and the overall evergreen smell mingles very well with the muskiness instead of evaporating too quickly. This reminds me very much of the wilderness I backpacked through just a couple weeks ago - very piney/junipery, slightly damp and dirty/mossy. My favorite so far.

[kattalog]

Wet: Sharp pine and fruity sweetness. Very woodsy!

Dry: Sweet fruits (the juniper with help of black musk) with a bit of a acidy bite. Fresh amped pines through the juniper. Some earthy bits of dirt from the ambergris.
An hour in, the pine dominates as note and the fruity juniper is now more of a support note. A very fresh woodsy scent with its pine that gets some frutiy notes. There is still some musk and earthy parts.
To me, Black forest is far from its ”haunted forest” that BPAL use as description. Instead the fresh pine and juniper inspires one to go out for a nice walk through nearest pine forest. The juniper makes it almost feel like summer to me, because of all activities in elementary school which involved excursions to nearest woods or nature sites. Its also a quite bright pine-y scent to me.
Ends with a darker pine note.

Dominant notes: Pines, juniper

Lasting: 3 hours

[lizabelle]

At the beginning this is too piney for me, but once the ambergris rears its head it's a completely different story. Never before did I think I would want to smell like (simulated) whale puke, but such is life. That misty, salty scent is amazing and truly lifts this beyond the average all-pine blend. This is a cold, creepy, foggy forest with lots of dry needles crunching underfoot, and something nasty waiting deep in the trees to eat me up. And I love it. I might actually get a bottle, which I never expected from that masculine opening!

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Trees. Mostly pine, aka cat pee, on me.

 

 

Dry: Stays true - piney cat pee all the way. Sadly not for my skin. I need to just give up on pine, we're never going to be friends.